Happy New Year 2018! I hope you all had nice holidays, enjoyed some time off with family and friends and are ready for new quilting adventures. I have a brand new Block of the Month planned for 2018. Well, it’s not really brand new, it was actually one of my first attempts at designing and making appliqué blocks back in 2001. I had no idea what I was doing but I managed to whip up a quilt with barnyard animals for my son. I called it “Old MacDonald’s Farm”, and I was so proud that I actually finished it and it didn’t even look half bad. I went back and redrew all the blocks, smoothed out the corners and wobbly lines, and now it’s ready to be shared with all of you. There will be twelve animal blocks, and the last installment will have instructions on how to put the quilt together with sashing and a border. All twelve patterns will include complete fabric requirements and cutting instructions for the whole quilt. But one thing will be new this year: Each block will only be available for free for one month. When I upload the next pattern, I will take the previous pattern down, and it will eventually be moved to the shop section. So if you like the block, make sure you download it right away and save it.

Since 2018 is the Year of the Dog, I have decided to publish the dog pattern first. Meet Dudley the Dog, isn’t he cute? I made a new sample with the revised pattern. At some point I will probably dig out the old quilt and post a picture but please remember that I had no idea what I was doing back then. I couldn’t figure out fusible machine appliqué and stumbled across a technique where you iron the seam allowances of the pieces over freezer paper and then stitch them to the background using invisible thread. I remember that it was quite a pain, and I am still amazed that I finished that project. Anyway, this time I went with fusible machine appliqué and blanket stitch, and I am quite happy with the result. I hope you will enjoy it too, and don’t forget to check back in February for the next block, Freddie the Frog.

Edit: It’s February, and Dudley moved over to the shop section. If you missed the free download, you can still purchase the pattern.

Love Dudley the dog. I have 2 grandsons and am looking forward to this BOM. I have never done one before and am excited to see each new block. Hopefully I can get this one done soon, and will definitely post a picture. Thanks so much.